1. Technical Field
This invention relates to an apparatus for controlling a mobile robot, more particularly to an apparatus for controlling actions of the mobile robot during charging of a battery installed in a mobile robot.
2. Background Art
When a mobile robot is equipped with electrical actuators powered by a battery to drive movement mechanisms and the like, the battery needs to be charged (recharged) by connecting it to an external power supply through a charging connector. When the external power supply is a commercial power source, the charging connector is connected to an outlet of the commercial power source through a long cord. There is therefore a danger of the posture of the mobile robot being destabilized if the cord should catch on the robot or some nearby structure.
In light of this, there is a known technique which is to calculate the amount of rotation around the gravity axis of the mobile robot, decide a direction of rotation based on the calculated amount of rotation, and design the moving path so as to make the calculated amount of rotation zero, as taught, for example, by Japanese Patent No. 4159711 (reference 1). Another example for an automatic charger for use as an external power supply for mobile robots is taught, for example, by Japanese Patent No. 4552037 (reference 2).